Supporting interest of middle school students in mathematics through context personalization and example choice

An experimental study examined the effect of context personalization and example choice on situational interest in mathematics of adolescent students. Middle school students (N = 736) learned about probability calculus and were assigned to one of four instructional conditions. Individual interest and perceived competence in mathematics was examined as moderator on three measures of situational interest: triggered situational interest, maintained situational interest, and perceived value. Context personalization promoted triggered and maintained situational interest, and perception of value among students with low individual interest and perceived competence in mathematics. Similar results were observed for example choice, with the exception of perceived value. Although context personalization and example choice promoted effort for students with low individual interest, we observed no effect on performance. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.